Chances of an IRS Audit Are Low—and Getting Lower

Those who like to be, well, creative when filling out their federal income-tax returns may take cheer from the following.

The Internal Revenue Service, struggling with continuing budget woes that could grow even worse this year, audited slightly more than one million individual returns in the year ended Sept. 30. That was down about 16% from the previous year and the lowest total since 2004. The figure also represents only...